Willie C Bogan: Student before Athlete
In this exhibit, I will be showcasing some of the hardships and triumphs of African American students on Dartmouth's campus in the 1960s. To do so, I conducted an oral interview with Willie Bogan '71, a Rhodes Scholar and former star football player at Dartmouth. With this interview, plus additional research, I was able to gain insight into the Black experience at Dartmouth at the time, and specifically the experience of a Black student-athlete.
Willie C Bogan
During his tenure at Dartmouth, Mr. Bogan was an accomplished student and athlete. Bogan's drive for education came from his childhood. He was raised by both his parents in Albion, a small town in Michigan. He watched his father work endlessly at the General Motor factories and empathized with him. Mr. Bogan mentioned how competitive his school was and how being around intelligent students motivated him to do better in school. "We had a lot of professor kids that went to school with us and it elevated the level of competition in the classroom," Bogan recalled.
At heart, Mr. Bogan was a competitor. He thrived to be number one in everything, not only his academics but also athletics. Since a kid, he was active in his community in sports from baseball and football to track. He was able to gain the attention of different colleges for both track and football and it was evident that football was the sport for him. It was because of his high school coaches that he was able to get attention from Dartmouth; while he was in high school, Dartmouth coach Bob Blackman sent out football questionnaires to high school coaches across America and his coaches filled them out recommending Bogan.
Bogan sustained his academic success and matched it with his athletic success. Bogan was the starting safety in 1969 and 1970 and was essential to the team's success. In the years he started he was 17-1 and in his senior year won a list of accolades. The 1970 football team was one of the few teams in Dartmouth's history to go undefeated. Not only were they the ivy league champions but also recipients of the Lamber trophy. Mr. Bogan's efforts in both the field and the classroom paid off. After his first year at Oxford, he returned to America to play football professionally. Willie Bogan reached the pinnacle of athletics in his respective sport and essentially did the same academically by studying at Dartmouth and Oxford University.